Meet Gina Rodriguez, the Latina Actress Who Refuses to Allow Black Women to Ever Be Great

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Gina done done it again.

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As people of color, we all face specific challenges that are unique to our environments and ethnic identities. But once variables such as gender or class come into play, life can get infinitely more complicated and arduous.

Ask black women.

But never ask Jane The Virgin star Gina Rodriguez, who habitually makes it a point to compare her plight to other women of color—or outright erase the context and identity of her melanated contemporaries—as a fifteen-time gold medalist in the Oppression Olympics.

Her latest faux pas comes courtesy of a roundtable discussion she held with Gabrielle Union, Emma Roberts, and Ellen Pompeo on Net-A-Porter’s The Big Television Debate. The topic? Pay disparities in Hollywood.

During which, she stated the following:

“I get so petrified in this space talking about equal pay especially when you look at the intersectional aspect of it, right? Where white women get paid more than black women, black women get paid more than Asian women, Asian women get paid more than Latina women, and it’s like a very scary space to step into.”

Sigh.

Naturally, a deluge of scorn and side-eyes rained down from the heavens in response:

https://twitter.com/hlndoan/status/1066318298042720256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/FilmFatale_NYC/status/1066040183739596800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/LeslieMac/status/1066151957876875265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/sofiaquintero/status/1066122136950112256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

And of course:

https://twitter.com/CNRush/status/1066026842199678979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

For those out the loop, the 34-year-old actress also caught hell earlier this year for evoking the spirit of “All Lives Matter” while interrupting her Small Foot co-star Yara Shahidi as she spoke on the importance of being a role model for black women.

The sooner Gina understands there’s a seat for everyone at the table, the sooner we’ll all be better for it. Because right now the only person she’s in competition with is herself.

Straight From The Root

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